gange v |gænǰ|
1 To attach (a fishhook) to a line or leader; hence vbl n gang(e)ing. [Though attested somewhat earlier, probably from Cornish dial gange, ging(e) (EDD at gange v. 1) “To twist fine brass or copper wire round a fishing-line, to prevent the hook from being bitten off by the fish.” For another possible Cornish dial borrowing in this context, cf scrod n.] chiefly NEng ?Obs Cf ganging n, DNE
[1792 Cartwright Jrl. Labrador 3.v, Ganging Hooks And Leads. To fix fine twine in a particular manner to fish-hooks, and small straps of line to leads, that they may be ready for immediate use.] 1811 Boston Gaz. (MA) 22 Apr suppl 1/2, [Advt:] An assortment of Hard-Ware, viz. . . Bank, quarter, mackarel and small Fish Hooks, some ganged on wire and steel, with swivels. a1828 in 1842 Brainard Poems 152 CT, And gange, sweet maid of Hellas—gange my hook / So that, nor steady pull may draw it off, / Nor cumbrous thread betray its fell design. [Footnote to gange:] A term well known among fishermen; and meaning to knit, or by any other mode unite, the hook with the line. 1832 RI Republican (Newport) 29 May 3/5, [Advt:] India grass lines, Chinese silk do. knots of superior silk worm gut for ganging hooks. 1835 Boston Pearl 4.248, The wisdom of the proprietor introduced the smallest quantity of asafetida . . in order to destroy the pungent smell of the wax used in gangeing, which is extremely offensive to most fish. 1860 Spirit of Times 30.368 NYC, [Advt:] Ganged Hooks—Hooks tied on Silkworm Gut, Silver Gimp, Brass Wire, Linen, Engine Twisted Hair, and Silk. 1885 Forest & Stream 24.411 ceMA, We have had talk about snelling hooks and snooding hooks, and here at the Hub sportsmen talk of “ganging” hooks. 1889 Century Dict. 2450, Gange (ganj [=[gænǰ]]). . . To fasten (a fish-hook) to the end of a section of line called the ganging. 1928 Harlow Making a Sailor 187 MA (as of c1870), I held the flapping fish by the piece of copper wire that I had ganged on to the hook Sunday morning.
2 with ~ onto: To grab, latch onto (something).
1969 DARE (Qu. V5b, If you take something [of small value] that nobody seems to own, you might say, “Before anybody else gets it, I’m going to _____this.”) Inf RI15, Gange [gænǰ] onto.